Hinges for collapsible cabinets and the like



July 26,1666 s. GLZER Em 3,262,745

HINGES FOR COLLAPSIBLE CABINETS AND THE LIKE Filed Aug. 5, 1963 United States Patent O Rutschmann, Stuttgart, Germany, assignors to Christian` Holzpfel KG., Ebhausen, Wurttemberg, Germany Filed Aug. 5, 1963, Ser. No.'299,894 Claims priority, application Germany, Sept. 1, 1962 H 42,512 9 Claims. (Cl. 312-103) The present invention relates to cabinets, shelves, chests, buffets, closets, dressing tables and similar pieces of furniture in general, and more particularly to improved hardware which may be utilized in collapsible pieces of furniture. Still more particularly, the invention relates to limprovements in hinges which may be used in such structures to connect one or more door panels, lateral walls, bottom walls, top walls, front panels, rear panels and/ or partitions to each other.

It is-an important object of our invention to provide improved hardware which maybe utilized to connect sections of simple or fancy pieces of furniture, which permits rapid assembly or dismantling of such sections, and which may be mass produced to reduce the cost of the structure in which it is being used.

Another object of the invention is to provide improved hardware which may be used in one-stage or multi-stage cabinets and similar pieces of furniture, whose component parts are at least partially concealed when the structure is fully assembled, which permits unimpeded pivoting of one or more door panels between a closed position and an open position, and which may be fastened to the respective sections with the help of conventional tools.

A further object of the invention is to provide an improved hinge which may be utilized to provide a pivotal connection between one or more stationary sections and one or more pivotable sections of a cabinet or the like.

An additional object of the invention is to provide a hinge whose elements need not be permanently connected to each other without affecting the reliability of the connection.

With the above objects in view, one feature of our invention resides in the provision of a piece of furniture, such'as a collapsible cabinet or the like, which comprises a pair of vertically spaced horizontal walls having coplanar end faces, a panel which is disposed in a vertical plane and whose upper and lower end faces are respectively adjacent to the end faces of the walls, and a pair of hinges which provide a pivotal connection between the panel and `the walls. Each hinge comprises a corner bracket which is xed to one of the walls and which comprises a lug extending beyond the end face of the respective Wall, a second bracket fixed to the panel and having an apertured portion adjacent to one end face of the panel, and a vertical pivot pin iixed to each corner bracket and having a tip received in the apertured portion of the respective second bracket. The pins are aligned so that the panel may be pivoted about the common axis of these pins. If the panel is a door panel, the common axis of the pins is preferably located externally of the cabinet by being spaced from the outer side of the panel so that pivotal movements of the door panel cannot be obstructed by the horizontal Walls.

The novel features which are considered as characteristic of the invention are set forth in particular in the appended claims. The improved piece of furniture itself, however, both as to its construction and the mode of assembling the same, together with additional features and advantages thereof, will be best understood from the following detailed description of certain specific embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

3,252,745 Patented .iuly 26, 1966 ICC FIG. l is an exploded'fragmentary perspective View of a collapsible multi-stage cabinet which embodies our invention; and

FIG. 2 is a smaller-scale front elevational view of the cab-inet in fully assembled condition.

Referring to the drawings, and first to FIG. 1, there is shown a portion of a collapsible wooden cabinet which comprises a horizontal bottom wall 1t), a horizontal top Wall 11, a vertical door panel 12 and a vertical rear panel 13. The side walls of the cabinet are omitted in FIG. 1 for the sake of clarity.

The door panel 12 is swingably supported by two hinges each including a rst leaf or corner bracket 15 and a second leaf or bracket 1S. One of the corner brackets 15 is secured to the lateral end face 10a of the bottom wall 10 and includes a plate-like horizontal lug 16 which extends forwardly and beyond the front end face lib of the wall 10. The other corner bracket 15 is secured to the lateral end face 11:1 of the top wall 11 and also comprises a at plate-like horizontal lug 16 which extends beyond the front end face 11b of the wall 11. Each of the brackets 18 assumes the form of an angle iron and the vertical legs of these brackets are fastened to the inner side 12a of the door panel 12. As shown, the horizontal legs of the brackets 18 respectively extend along and beyond the upper and lower end faces 12b, 12C of the door panel 12 and are formed with aligned openings 18a for a pair of vertically aligned pivot pins 17 which are threaded into the adjacent lugs 16. Thus, the pivot axis about which the door panel 12 may be swung between an open and a closed position is located externally of the cabinet and is outwardly adjacent to the outer side 12d of this panel. Each pin 17 carries a collar 17' which limits the extent to which these pins may be threaded into the respective lugs 16.

vT he connection between the rear panel 13 and the hori# zontal walls 10, 11 also comprises two hinges each of which includes a pair of leaves or corner brackets 19, 22. The lower corner bracket 19 is xed to the lateral end face 10a of the bottom wall 1G and comprises a at platelike horizontal lug 20 which extends rearwardly and beyond the rear end face 10c of this wall. The upper corner bracket 19 is fixed to the end face 11a and includes a at plate-like horizontal lug 20 which extends beyond the rear end face 11C of the top wall 11. The brackets 22 have vertical legs which are secured to the inner side 13a of the rear panel 13 and horizontal legs which are respectively adjacent to the upper and lower end faces 13b, 13C of the panel 13. The horizontal legs of the brackets 22 are formed with openings 22a (only one shown) which receive the end portions of two vertically aligned pivot pins 21 each having a stop collar 21 and each threadedly received in one of the lugs 20. The openings 22a of the brackets 22 are normally aligned with openings provided in the end yfaces 13b, 13C of the rear panel 13 so that the end portions or tips of the pins 21 may extend through and beyond the openings 22a. When the walls 10, 11 are fully assembled with the panel 13, the outer side of the panel 13 is flush with the rear end faces of the lugs 20 and, as a rule, the lateral end face 13d of the panel 13 is also flush with the adjacent end faces of the lugs 20. It goes without saying that the other lateral end face of each of the walls 10, 11 also carries two brackets 19 and that the rear panel 13 carries a second pair of brackets 22 which are pivotally secured to the walls 10, 11. i

FIG. l shows that the pivot pins 17 and 21 extend upwardly and downwardly beyond the respective lugs 16, 20. Of course, if the cabinet of our invention has a single compartment, i.e., if the cabinet has a single stage or storey, the pins 17, 21 may be replaced by shorter pins so that the upper pin 17 need not extend beyond the upper side of the upper lug 16, that the upper pin 21 need not extend beyond the upper side of the upper lug 2), and that the lower pins 17, 21 need not extend beyond the undersides of the respective lugs 16, 29. However, when the cabinet comprises two or more stages or storeys, the pins 17, 21 are of advantage because they may simultaneonsly couple additional panels to the basic structure of the cabinet. Thus, the upper pin 17 may extend into an opening provided in the lower bracket (corresponding to the lower bracket 18) of a second door panel (not shown) which may be mounted at a level above the door panel 12. Also, and as actually shown in FG. l, the lower end portion of the lower pivot pin 17 may be received in the opening 118:1 of an L-shaped bracket 118 provided at the upper end of a door panel 12@ which is located at a level beneath the door panel 12. The manner in which the bracket 118 is secured to the door panel 120 is the same as described in connection with the upper bracket 18.

Furthermore, and if it is desired to form the upper stage of the cabinet without a door panel, one may utilize a vertical front panel 11i) which is provided with a lower L-shaped bracket 122 having an opening 122a arranged to receive a portion of a pivot pin 16 which may be threaded into a second opening 16 provided in the upper lug 16. The lower lug 16 is provided with a similar opening 16 which is nearer to the front end face 10b l than the lower pivot pin 17. This lower opening 16' may receive a second pin 16" (not shown) in the event that the lower door panel 120 is replaced by a second Vfront panel simi-lar to the panel 110.

- more than one bottom wall and two one-piece or multisection lateral walls which extend from the bottom wall and Iall the way to the top wall.

For example, the cabinet which is shown in the drawings may serve as the lower part of a buffet wherein the lowermost stage is provided with one or two door panels 120, wherein the median stage is also provided with one or two door panels 12, and wherein the upper stage has a front panel 11G. Each of the door panels 12, 129 may extend from the one to the other lateral wall of the cabinet or, alternatively, there may be two door panels 12 and two door panels 120.

It is to be noted that the corner brackets 15 may be secured to the front end faces 10b, 11b and that the corner brackets 19 may be secured to the rear end faces 10c, 11e without departing from the spirit of our invention. In such hinges, the position of the lugs 16, 20 with respect to the remainder of the corner brackets 15, 19 must be changed by 90 degrees to make sure that the lugs 16 will extend forwardly beyond the front end faces 10b, 11b and that the lugs 20 will extend rearwardly beyond the rear end faces 10c, 11e.

The `front end faces 10b, 11b, the rear end faces 10c, 11C, the lateral end faces 10a, 11a, the upper end faces 12b, 13b and the lower end faces 12C, 13e are respectively disposed in common planes.

PEG. 2 shows a collapsible multi-storey cabinet having two pairs of door panels 12, 1223, a front panel 110, a bottom wall 11Go, two lateral walls 140 and a top wall 111a. The walls 1G, 11 and the panels 13, 130, 130:1 of FIG. l are not visible. In the cabinet of FIG. 2, the non-illustrated walls co-rresponding to the walls 1li, 11 of FG. l constitute two horizontal partitions between the upper, median and lower compartments of the cabinet.

It will be noted that the hinges 15, 1S and 19, 22 are based on the same inventive concept of having a first L-shaped bracket 18 or 22 and a second L-shaped bracket 15 or 19 which latter has a flat plate-like lug for reception of a pivot pin so that the pivot pin may enter the opening 18a or 22a of the first bracket. The screws 25 which connect the brackets to the respective sections of the cabinet may be applied by means of conventional tools. Similar screws may be used to secure the inner sides of the lateral walls 14@ to the lateral end faces of' some or all of the cabinet sections 10, 11, 111361, 1110, 110, 13@ and g.

in the appended claims, all pivotable vertical sections will be called panels and all horizontal sections will be called Walls.

Without further analysis, the foregoing will so fully reveal the gist of the present invention that others can, by applying current knowledge, readily adapt it for v-arious applications without omitting .features that, from the standpoint of prior art, fairly constitute essential characteristics of the generic and specific aspects of this invention and, therefore, such adaptations should and are intended to be comprehended within the meaning and range of equivalence of the following claims.

What is claimed as new and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

1. In a piece of furniture, in combination, a pair of spaced parallel walls having substantially coplanar end faces; a panel having two spaced parallel end faces each adjacent to the end face of one of said walls, and a front face facing away from said coplanar end faces of said walls; and a pair of hinges for pivotally connecting said panel with said wal-ls; each of said hinges comprising a first bracket secured to one of said walls and having a lug-shaped portion extending beyond the end face of the respective wall, a second bracket having an apertured portion adjacent to one end face of said panel and extending outwardly beyond said front face of said panel; and a pair of coaxial pivot pins each fixed to one of said lug-shaped portions and each extending into the apertured portion of the respective second bracket, said pivot pins having la common pivot axis located outwardly beyond said front face of said panel.

2. In `a piece of furniture, in combination, a pair of spaced parallel walls having substantially coplanar end faces; a panel having two spaced parallel end faces each adjacent to the end face `of one of said Walls, an inner face adjacent to said walls and an outer face facing away from said wall; and a pair of hinges for pivotally connecting said panel with said walls; each of said hinges comprising a first bracket secured `to one of said walls and having a lug-shaped portion extending beyond the end face of the respect-ive wall and beyond the outer face of said panel, a second bracket having an apertured portion adjacent to one end face and extending beyond the outer face of said panel; and a pair of coaxial pivot pins each fixe-d to one of said lug-shaped portions and each extending into the apertured portion of the respective second bracket so that the common pivot avis of `said p-ins is rspaced 'outwardly fnom the outer face of said panel and extends parallel thereto.

3. In a piece of furniture, in combination, a pair of spaced parallel walls having substantially coplainar end faces; a panel having two spaced parallel end faces each adjacent to the end face of one of said walls and a front face facing away from said coplanar end faces of said walls; and a pair of hinges for pivotally connecting said panel with said walls; each of said hinges comprising a corner bracket secured to one of said walls .and having a fiat plate-like lug parallel with the general plane and extending beyond the end face of the respective Wall, a second bracket having an apertured portion adjacent to one end face of said panel and extending outwardly beyond said front face of said panel, and a pivot pin fixed to one 'of said lugs and extending into the apertured portion of the respective second bracket, the pins of said Ipair of hinges having a common axis located outwardly beyond said 'front face of said panel and the respective lugs of said pair of hinges securing said panel against movement in the axial direction of said pins.

4. In a piece fof furniture, in combination, a pair of vertically spaced horizontal walls each having a front end face and a lateral end face, said front end faces and said lateral end faces being respectively coplana-r with each other; a vertical panel having an inner face turned toward said walls and an outer face turned away from said walls, -a horizontal upper end face adjacent to one of said front end faces, and a horizontal lower end face adjacent to theother front end-face; and a pair of hinges each including acorner bracket fixed to one of said lateral end faces and having a plate-like horizontal `lug extending forwardly and beyond the respective front end face, a second bracket having a vertical portion fixed to the inner face and an apertured horizontal portion adjacent to one l end face of said panel and projecting beyond said outer face of said panel, and a vertical pivoft pin secured to and having an end portion extending beyond one side of the respective lug; said pins being coaxial and said end portions thereof being received in the horizontal portions of the respective second brackets so that said panel is pivotable about the common axis of said pins, the pins of said pair of hinges having a common axis located outwardly beyond said outer face of said panel and the respective lugs of said pair of hinges securing said panel against movement in axial direction of sa-id pins.

5. In a piece of furniture, such as a cabinet ior the like, in combination, a pair of vertically spaced horizontal walls having coplanar end faces; a first vertical panel having two spaced horizontal end faces, an inner face adjacent to said Walls and -an outer face; a pair yof hinges each including a corner bracket fixed to one of said walls and having a plate-like horizontal lug extending beyond the end face of the respective wall and beyond the outer face of said panel, each hinge of said pair further including a second bracket fixed to said panel and having a horizontal portion extending along one end face thereof and forwardly beyond the outer face of said panel, each of said horizontal portions having an opening outwardly spaced from the outer face of said panel and said openings being vertically aligned with each other, and a pair of vertical pivot pins each fixed to one of said lugs and each received in one of said openings so that said panel is pivotable `about the common axis 'of said pins while being prevented from movement in axial direction of said pins by the respective lugs; a third vertical pivot pin fixed to one of said llugs between `one of said first mentioned pins and the end face of the respective wall; a second vertical panel having a horizontal end face 4adjacent to said one lug; and an additional bracket fixed to said second panel 'and having an apertured portion adjacent to the end face of said second panel and receiving a portion of said third pivot pin whereby, when said piece of furniture is assembled, said first and second panels are substantially coplanar with one another.

6. In a piece of furniture, in combination, a pair of vertically spaced horizontal walls each having a front end face and a lateral end face, said front end faces and said lateral end faces being respectively coplanar with each other; a vertical panel having an inner face turned toward sa-id walls and an outer face turned away from said Walls,v a horizontal upper end face adjacent to one of said front end faces, and a horizontal lower end face adjacent to the other front end face; a second panel having an end face parallel with the end faces of said first mentioned panel; a pair of hinges each -including a corner bracket fixed to one of said lateral end faces and having a platelike horizontal lug extending forwardly and beyond the respective lateral end face, a second bracket having a vertical portion fixed to the inner face and an apertnred horizontal portion adjacent to one end face of said first mentioned panel and projecting beyond said 1outer face thereof; and a vertical pivot pin secured to each of said lugs, each lof said pins having an end portion extending beyond one face of the respective lug and said pins being coaxial, with said end portions thereof being received in the horizontal portions of the respective second brackets so that said first mentioned panel is pivoted about the common axis of said pins which is located outwardly beyond said outer face of said first mentioned panel, and one of said pins having a second end portion extending beyorid the other face of the respective lug; and an additional bracket secured to said second panel and having an apertured port-ion adjacent to the end face of said second panel and receiving said second end portion of said one pivot pin.

7. In `a piece of furniture, such as a cabinet lor the like, in combination, a pair of vertically spaced horizontal walls each having coplanar end faces; a first vertical panel having two spaced horizontal end faces, an inner face adjacent to'said walls, and an outer face; a pair of hinges each including a corner bracket fixed to one `of said walls and having a plate-like horizontal lug extending beyond the lateral end face of the respective wall and beyond the outer face of said panel; each hinge of said pair further -including a second bracket fixed to said panel and having a horizontal portion extending along one end face thereof and forwardly beyond the outer face of said panel, and a vertical portion secured to the inner face of the respective panel, each of said horizontal portions having an opening outwardly faced from the outer face of said panel and said openings being vertically aligned with each other, and a pair of vertical pivot pins each fixed to one of said lugs and each received in one of said openings so that said panel is pivotable about the common axis of said pins;'a third vertical pvot pin fixed to one of said lugs between one of said first mentioned pins and the end face of the respective wall; a second vertical panel having a horizontal end face adjacent to said one lug; and an additional bracket fixed to said second panel and having an apertured portion adjacent to the end face of said' second panel 'and receiving-a portion of said third pivot pin whereby, when said piece of furniture is assembled, said first .and second panels are substantially coplanar with one another.

8. In a piece of furniture, such as a cabinet :or the like, in combination, a pai-r of vertically spaced horizontal walls each having coplanar end faces; a first vertical panel having two spaced horizontal end faces, an inner face adjacent to said Walls, and an outer face; a pair of hinges each including a corner bracket fixed to one of said walls and having a plate-like horizontal lug extending beyond the lateral end face of the Irespective wall and beyond the outer face of said panel; each hinge of said pair further including a second bracket consisting of sheet metal and fixed to said panel and having a horizontal portion extending ialong `one end face thereof and forwardly bey=ond the outer face of said panel, and a vertical portion secured to the inner face of the respective panel, each of said horizontal portions having an opening outwardly faced from the outer face of said panel and said openings being vertically aligned with each other, and a pair of vertical pivot pins each fixed to one of said lugs and each to said second panel and having an apertured portion adjacent to the end face of said second panel and receiv-ing 'a portion lof said third pivot pin whereby, when said piece of furniture is assembled, said first and second panels are substantially -coplanar with one another.

9. In .a piece of furniture, particularly in a collapsible cabinet, in combination, a plurality of horizontal walls; a plurality of vertical panels at least some of which are 7 8 coplanar Vand are disposed above each other; and hinges 2,209,659- 7/1940 Mercer 16-171 X` connecting said walls with the corresponding panels, each 2,385,169 9/ 1945 Stone 31.2-329 X of said hinges comprising a corner bracket secured to the 2,443,515 6/1943 ROCkWell 312-263 X respective Wall, a second bracket secured to the respective 2i571 622 10/1951 Schmidt 312-263 panel, and a vertical pivot pin xed to each corner bracket 5 2,938,227 5/1960 L hota 16-171 X and rotatably received in the respectivesecond bracket. 3065038 11/1962 P1P@ e- 312"263 FOREIGN PATENTS References Cited by the Examiner 11640 1911 Great Britain. UNITED STATES PATENTS 10 190,782 12/ 1922 Great Britain. 583,724 6/1897 Barckhemer 20-46 4861342 6/1938 Great Entam- 11321405 3/1915 Sm, 20-16 CLAUDE A. LE ROY, Piimaiy Examinar. 1,807,063 5/1931 GaITlSOn 16-171 X 2,087,904 7/1937 Flood 312-257 X CHANCELLOR E- HARRIS Exflmmef- 2,146,939 2/1939 Goonies 4-187 15 A. FRANKEL, Assisiani Examinar. 

5. IN A PIECE OF FURNITURE, SUCH AS A CABINET OR THE LIKE, IN COMBINATION, A PAIR OF VERTICALLY SPACED HORIZONTAL WALLS HAVING COPLANAR END FACES; A FIRST VERTICAL PANEL HAVING TWO SPACED HORIZONTAL END FACES, AN INNER FACE ADJACENT TO SAID WALLS AND AN OUTER FACE; A PAIR OF HINGES EACH INCLUDING A CORNER BRACKET FIXED TO ONE OF SAID WALLS AND HAVING A PLATE-LIKE HORIZONTAL LUG EXTENDING BEYOND THE END FACE OF THE RESPECTIVE WALL AND BEYOND THE OUTER FACE OF SAID PANEL, EACH HINGE OF SAID PAIR FURTHER INCLUDING A SECOND BRACKET FIXED TO SAID PANEL AND HAVING A HORIZONTAL PORTION EXTENDING ALONG ONE END FACE THEREOF AND FORWARDLY BEYOND THE OUTER FACE OF SAID PANEL, EACH OF SAID HORIZONTAL PORTIONS HAVING AN OPENING OUTWARDLY SPACED FROM THE OUTER FACE OF SAID PANEL AND SAID OPENINGS BEING VERTICALLY ALIGNED WITH EACH OTHER, AND A PAIR OF VERTICAL PIVOT PINS EACH FIXED TO ONE OF SAID LUGS AND EACH RECEIVED IN ONE OF SAID OPENINGS SO THAT SAID PANEL IS PIVOTABLE ABOUT THE COMMON AXIS OF SAID PINS WHILE BEING PREVENTED FROM MOVEMENT IN AXIAL DIRECTION OF SAID PINS BY THE RESPECTIVE LUGS; A THIRD VERTICAL PIVOT PIN FIXED TO ONE OF SAID LUGS BETWEEN ONE OF SAID FIRST MENTIONED PINS AND THE END FACE OF THE RESPECTIVE WALL; A SECOND VERTICAL PANEL HAVING A HORIZONTAL END FACE ADJACENT TO SAID ONE LUG; AND AN ADDITIONAL BRACKET FIXED TO SAID SECOND PANEL AND HAVING AN APERTURED PORTION ADJACENT TO THE END FACE OF SAID SECOND PANEL AND RECEIVING A PORTION OF SAID THIRD PIVOT PIN WHEREBY, WHEN SAID PIECES OF FURNITURE IS ASSEMBLED, SAID FIRST AND SECOND PANELS ARE SUBSTANTIALLY COPLANAR WITH ONE ANOTHER. 